Do I ship it?

GamesQuick-Time EventsQuick-Time Events + Psychological Horror

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Psychological-Horror Quick-Time Events game?

Quick-Time Events + Psychological Horror

Of 47 developers who shipped a Psychological-Horror Quick-Time Events game in the last 2 years: 3 in 10 made under est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 4 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 20 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 67 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $540, ×1.1 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $370k, ×788 the market median. Revenue is up 80% on the market; 67 games are announced against 32 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.1 times the market baseline, revenue up 80% on the market, 67 announced, ×2.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Quick-Time Events + Psychological Horror
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 47
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $4.8k → $419 → $30 → $239 → $3.4k → $1.1k → $599 (still earning) → $150 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Quick-Time Events + Psychological Horror: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 47
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $538 (exactly $538)
Top 25% $3.4k (exactly $3,352)
Top 5% $374k (exactly $374,172)
Developers, 2 yr 47
Released games 104
Announced 67
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $4.99

momentum: how a niche's revenue percentiles and developer count moved between two equal, adjacent periods, divided by the market's own move. See method., 12 months: revenue up 80% on the market, supply 115% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Quick-Time Events
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Psychological Horror
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Quick-Time Events; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Puzzle, Exploration
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 3D, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 92% positive over 16,281 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $540, 1 in 4 over $3.3k, 1 in 20 over $370k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 8 in 10 of the 20 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 67 games are announced against 32 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Quick-Time Events with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Dating SimFair17 devs · median $15k · 16 announced
  2. + Shoot 'Em UpFair8 devs · median $1.2k · 12 announced
  3. + Life SimFair28 devs · median $958 · 33 announced
  4. + SimulationFair116 devs · median $748 · 133 announced
  5. + CollectathonFair15 devs · median $720 · 18 announced
  6. + Resource ManagementFair46 devs · median $719 · 55 announced
  7. + FlightFair9 devs · median $657 · 9 announced
  8. + AliensFair12 devs · median $628 · 14 announced
  9. + SpaceFair16 devs · median $597 · 24 announced
  10. + Bullet TimeLong shot10 devs · median $390 · 15 announced
  11. + DemonsLong shot17 devs · median $300 · 22 announced
  12. + Bullet HellLong shot27 devs · median $239 · 25 announced

All 110 pairs on the Quick-Time Events page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
The Quarry older $59.99 16,127 83% 484k $29M (exactly $29,023,762) Supermassive Games
SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS $49.99 12,178 96% 365k $18M (exactly $18,263,347) Sonic Team
The Beast Inside older $24.99 10,528 83% 316k $7.9M (exactly $7,892,842) Illusion Ray
The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan older $19.99 9,244 76% 277k $5.5M (exactly $5,543,627) Supermassive Games
The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me older $39.99 3,778 56% 113k $4.5M (exactly $4,532,467) Supermassive Games
The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope older $19.99 7,202 74% 216k $4.3M (exactly $4,319,039) Supermassive Games
Directive 8020 $49.99 1,337 63% 40k $2.0M (exactly $2,005,099) Supermassive Games
The Bunker older $14.99 1,644 69% 49k $739k (exactly $739,307) Splendy Interactive, Wales Interactive
The Inn-Sanity $7.99 1,561 96% 47k $374k (exactly $374,172) Steppe Hare Studio
Press X to Not Die older $2.99 3,668 90% 110k $329k (exactly $329,020) All Seeing Eye Games
The Occultist $29.99 244 74% 7.3k $220k (exactly $219,527) DALOAR
Angel Engine $7.99 303 80% 9.1k $73k (exactly $72,629) HMS Studios, Black Lantern Collective
KunKunNest $3.99 434 95% 13k $52k (exactly $51,950) JNTM, KunKunRoom, 鸡你太美
The Supper: New Blood $9.99 120 88% 3.6k $36k (exactly $35,964) White Blanket Games
Shifting To The Backrooms $8.99 51 86% 1.5k $14k (exactly $13,755) Oopsome Games
Vesperis $13.99 19 47% 570 $8.0k (exactly $7,974) AbnerDev
Go To Sleep $6.99 34 82% 1.0k $7.1k (exactly $7,130) YuRo Games

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.